Good news for Chicago art lovers: the Art Institute of Chicago is hosting a radiant solo exhibition by Haitian American artist Abigail Lucien. Titled Blood of the Earth, the show is on view now through January 25, 2027, and it celebrates one of the most elemental materials on the planet: iron.
Lucien’s artistic practice has long centered on iron, a mineral born from exploding stars that forms the molten core of our planet and flows through our very blood. In this exhibition, the artist explores the beautiful idea that iron connects us to our histories, the material world, and one another.
Step inside and you will find an immersive installation conceived as a working metalsmith’s shop: a furnace, bellows, anvil, and other tools evoke a studio humming with the life force of iron. Lucien used casting, welding, forging, and etching to create the new sculptures on view, several in collaboration with the foundry at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Among the highlights is Makouti (REPIBLIK FLÈ), a woven-iron basket crowned with deep-red blossoms. The works honor deep traditions: the ornate iron gates and grilles that decorate buildings across the Caribbean, and the African iron forge as a sacred space of creation. Together they speak of craft, diaspora, and the wonderfully adaptable nature of belonging.
The exhibition is curated by Irene Sunwoo, the museum’s John H. Bryan Chair and Curator of Architecture and Design, and it is free with museum admission. One more luminous reason to visit Chicago’s grand art palace this season.
Photo: Art Institute of Chicago
